Crushing Pain
by SonicGurl98
Summary: What do you do when you've got a crush on someone, who, for one reason or another, you can't love? One day in Future City, Sonic finds out in the hardest way possible, and, in the end, there is only one who can save him... Set during/after/around Sonic Riders, Oneshot, aged-up Sonic/Tails


Curiously, the hedgehog studied the gear his friend had 'cooked up' for him. "How does that little guy always manage to make such cool toys?" He wondered, before glancing at the fox in the other side of the room and noting, "... Well, not so little anymore..." He was much taller than he once was, when he first met him—though, the same could be said of himself. For all the talk, how fast the years had gone by between the two of them was enough to make even _his_ head spin.

Then, before the hedgehog knew it, everyone was backing up and getting ready to start the early-morning race. Sonic blinked, before following along with the rest of the crowd, zooming past the line once the electrocuting bar had disappeared and starting the race. Knuckles and one of Eggman's robots were behind, having misjudged when to run forward and gotten themselves fried momentarily. By the second lap, Sonic was around the leading four: Shadow, at fourth; Rouge, at third; Wave, at second; and Tails, at first—flying gracefully through the boost-rings he had reached by going up the ramp.

It was no wonder why Sonic was barely holding fifth-place – he was too busy watching the fox to actually be a part of the race himself. The hedgehog shook his head, "What's gotten into me? Best pals or not, if my l'il bro thinks he's got this win in the bag, he's got another thing coming!" He exclaimed, before picking up the pace and speeding past all the other competition—hugging every curve, jumping every jump, dodging every obstacle; Sonic was breezing through the track like the wind, leaving every other racer in his board's weird, glow-y, exhaust-y stuff.

It was the final lap, and Sonic was now eyeing the fox as he was gaining on him, his mind racing, thinking, "I'll show him a thing or two about racing against _me._ " He then began to boost, picking up in speed rapidly, getting closer and closer to Tails. All he needed was to just bump him off-balance, and then he'd be off, speeding ahead to first-place and victory... or so he thought.

It was as if time itself was speeding up right before his eyes, and, before he could think, he was off his board, on his hedgehog butt, sat on the former-frontrunner's chest. "Oh! Ah gosh, I'm sorry l'il bro, I didn't mean—" Sonic began, but, before he could continue, Tails slipped from under the sapphire speedster and went back to his board.

"We could lose the race!" Tails merely said to the hedgehog, exasperatedly, before speeding off barely ahead of the others who had since caught up with them.

Eventually Sonic picked himself up off the metal floor and retrieved his board, only to find it was completely out of air. The hedgehog groaned, before holding it securely between his arm and hip and attempting to run the rest of the way – a task that would have been a breeze, were it not for the surprising heaviness of the airless board. He thanked Cream for her encouragement as she zoomed past him, but, if he was completely honest, it wasn't helping, as he saw every other racer zip by him with ease. He had just been passed by Knuckles, getting knocked over for a moment as a result, before he picked himself up and laborously made his way through the rest of the course.

He wasn't sure what it was that was going on, he wasn't usually this sloppy. Everyone knew Sonic was the fastest—that is, perhaps with the exception of a certain emerald-green hawk—he was cool, he never made a fool of himself like he had during that race, and yet here he was, walking in shame to the finish-line, where he was greeted by the racers who hadn't left already. They could tell he was not feeling very good about the loss, which led to Tails—the first-place winner—saying, "Um... look on the bright side, Sonic! You're not last!"

Sonic blinked, "I'm not?" He then looked around and found one of Eggman's robots, out of commision in a far-right corner before the finish-line, emitting smoke from its vents, its circuits having fried from the initial shock at the start of the race, so, technically, it didn't get to race in the first place. The _second_ -to-last-place hedgehog sighed and chuckled, awkwardly quipping, "Ah... well I won't let _that_ go to my head, don't worry, hehe..." He didn't see much reason in staying there for much longer after such humiliation, so he began to walk off into the hallway out, away from the shame.

Tails sighed and, after a time, found the courage to go after him, giving chase, only to bump into the moping hedgehog as soon as he turned the corner. "Oof!" Tails let out as he fell to the ground, Sonic himself letting out a similar sound as he was knocked onto the ground, face-first.

The hedgehog turned around, "Hey hey, _look,_ I'm not in the mood fo—" he began, before realizing it was Tails. He let out an exasperated sigh, got up and helped the fox up as well, before saying, "What're you doing here with me and not over there with everyone else? You won _first-place,_ you should be out there celebrating, enjoying yourself, not hanging out with... _second-to-last_ losers like me, the _incompetence_ might rub off on you..." It was odd, but... it was like the room got warmer when he first saw the fox right before him.

"Celebrating? Without _you?_ That doesn't sound like much fun at all, to me..." Tails replied, "... I'm here because I noticed you were distracted during the race," he said, before adding, "... and by 'noticed,' I mean you crashed into me like a big fool because you were distracted." The hedgehog's face fell, which elicited Tails to put his hand on his blue bestie's shoulder. "I worry about you, Sonic," Tails said, concernedly.

Sonic was taken aback by what the fox had said to him but merely played it off with another quip, joking, "Hey, i-isn't it _my_ job to worry about _you,_ little g... guy?" He was **stuttering** now, and his heart was beginning to race. This was all so new to him, but he needed to be in the moment as best as he could, trying his best to stay focused on... _those beautiful blue eyes_ , Sonic thought, losing himself before noticing in looking at them that the fox was concerned, which brought him back to the moment, realizing his quip wasn't appropriate, and, growing ever so slightly more serious temporarily, admitting, "... Okay, you got me, something's been bothering me," his eyes were still on the fox's—whose gaze was filled with curiosity and concern—before his own gaze uncharacteristically fell to the buckle of his left shoe, "... I really dunno how to say this... I honestly don't fully know what 'this' _is_ either... Earlier before the race, I just saw you and... and you were... different."

The two-tailed tech wiz tilted his head in puzzlement, "Huh? What do you mean, 'different?' Is my fur graying? Do you think I've been on edge lately? Am I more confident than I used to be? Less confident? _Too_ confident? Do I need to comb through my three hairs again? I mean I have _let_ them grow out a bi—oohhhh is _that_ why I seem different?" Tails asked, worriedly wondering what on earth could be different that he didn't immediately know about.

The berry-blue hedgehog sighed, taking the fox's hands in his without thinking in an attempt at de-escalating the situation, before seeing the weirded-out look in his best friend's eyes and realizing what he'd just done. "... Oops?" The blue badnik-basher chuckled, awkwardly, before letting go and saying, "It... it ain't anything like those things—well, maybe some? I dunno... you've grown since I first met you, you're not that little guy I met back in West Side Island anymore, you're _Tails_ – awesome pilot, tech wiz, brave hero who's always had my back..." Even as he said all those things, it still wasn't enough—not even _close_ ; like there was something more to it than all that, but he couldn't figure out what it was... "... And... and I just noticed all that, that's all..."

After nodding along with what Sonic had been saying, as well as blushing upon hearing his idol-turned-best friend gush about him, Tails responded, "O-okay... but why would that distract you? You've grown a lot too, and I finished in—er... I didn't finish second-to-last, or crash into you like a—"

"Like a fool, yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time," Sonic interjected, not exactly dealing with being repeatedly called a fool very well, the irritation causing him to lose his cool, snapping, "I just... I don't know! I've never felt this way, I don't know the words that can describe how proud I am of you; even saying that just now wasn't enough! In all my years I've never liked anyone the way I like you – not Knuckles, not Shadow, not Amy, not anybody! And I just!... I..." Then, as he said those words out loud, to the fox he had known as a best friend longer than he hadn't, a peculiar idea of what it could be seemed to spring up in his mind.

Unfortunately for him at the moment, an idea had made its way into Tails's head as well, and he didn't seem happy about the 'revelation.' "... You're not saying that," the fox uttered, catching the hedgehog by surprise, before continuing, "Y-you can't... you can't mean..."

Sonic was only just beginning to realize what he had gotten himself into with his reckless words, now reaching his hand out to put on the fox's shoulder as he, futilely, replied, "Hey, hey Tails, I'm not sure what you think's going on, but you really shouldn't worry abou..." his voice trailed as his gesture of comforting was met with rejection, his best friend backing away from him slowly, leaving him with his hand out in the air and a concerned look in his eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Tails asked, his voice almost trembling and his eyes nearly tearing-up, "What's wrong with how things are right now, what isn't working? Nothing needs to be changed, we're fine!" He was beginning to scare both the hedgehog in front of him and himself, but he couldn't stop, he was too scared—terrified, even. Like everything he held dear was now being threatened, he was protecting himself; 'protecting,' as he knew it, their friendship.

With every word he had uttered to the fox, Sonic only seemed to be getting into deeper and deeper trouble, and he knew it, as he quickly replied, exasperatedly, "I didn't say anything about change—I haven't done anything, Tails!" Wanting to avoid saying another wrong word, rapidly losing his composure, he bid his troubled friend goodbye with a wave, forgetting to bring his board as he ran and hastily spat-out his farewell, "I-I need to clear my head right n-now, this is messing with me too much, I'll check you later..."

As he gained distance between him and the fox, he could feel his mood dropping faster than an explosive coconut from the aptly-named badnik _Coconuts_ as he berated himself mercilessly, thinking, "Look what you did— _look. What. You. Did._ That was your best friend and you just threw all that away, what the fff... ffffff... fffffffffork is wrong with you, ugh!" His pace was quickening as his thoughts grew more intense – a walk turned into a jog, a jog turned into a sprint, a sprint went into overdrive and, before Sonic knew it, his nose and forehead had met the solid wall of a fast food restaurant. He fell down on his back as a result, seeing the now-midday Future City sky above and realizing he had been running for longer than he thought, before picking himself up and proceeding to enter into the place to have some brunch. Hoping _that_ would lighten his mood a bit, after him being away from the fox seemed to crush him.

The restaurant wasn't necessarily what many would consider to be fancy or 'cool'—whether by general public or 'hipster' standards—but it was good for food that wouldn't _chew up_ his earnings too badly. He couldn't think of anything he particularly disliked about it, until he reached... _**the line.**_ "Oh. My. Gosh. This line." Sonic said, under his breath. Bafflingly, with all the advanced technology at hand, there were still 'small' inconveniences—that drove Sonic up the wall—like lines. It had to be at least five people deep, and he was at **the back of it.** He was getting antsier by the moment, until the brick-red echidna at the front of the line noticed him.

"Sonic?" Knuckles called out, receiving a response from the hedgehog in him meeting his gaze, "Awwh hey, wise guy!" He exclaimed, before motioning for him to come over, turning toward the cashier and explaining, "Here, here, he's with me, let him order next," the cashier rolled her eyes but complied.

She looked over to the blue hedgehog and threw her voice to the back of the line where he was at, asking, "Hey blue, what'll you be having?"

All eyes were on Sonic as he awkwardly cut in line to the front. It wasn't that he felt like they deserved their service sooner than he did—certainly _they_ could wait longer than he ought to be asked to—it was more the principle of cutting in line felt kinda rotten to him – like something Eggman would do. Nevertheless, he sighed, took a look at the menu, and ordered, with certainty, "I'll have a MickTriple MickQuarter MickPound MickBacon MickCheese MickBurger—but take it easy on the cheese, I can hardly eat that _yellow crap._ "

The cashier giggled to herself and wrote down the order, "Okay, _little mister,_ I'll keep the _cheesy-weezy_ off your little MickBurger," she said, jokingly, meaning for it to be a lighthearted tease—though the hedgehog certainly didn't take it that way.

"I'm lactose-intolerant! Nobody gets this!" Sonic huffed as he looked around for seats, trying not to seem _too_ 'affected' by the diss the cashier dished out on him, though his ego was quite bruised by it. He found one of those nice, comfortable couch seats and turned to his muscular friend, asking, "Hey, Knuckles, that place look good to you?"

Knuckles, having taken a breath and opened his mouth to speak just before Sonic interrupted his train of thought, groaned and looked over at the place Sonic had picked out for them, sighing and saying, "Okay, but you better hurry and get those seats for us in a minute so they don't get taken, got it?" Sonic nodded, and Knuckles smirked back at him before turning back to face the cashier and making one last order, "Oh, one last thing with the other two: we need some MickChicken MickNuggets - then we should be good."

Sonic was about to blaze over to the seats when he heard the last order, which elicited him turning his head and asking, "Uhh who's that last order for?"

The echidna shrugged, "Oh, right, Tails is eating with us – it was just gonna be us but then here you are and—" he stopped as he noticed the wide-eyed look on Sonic's face, before turning his head to the door and seeing the orange fox himself had opened the door and met the hedgehog's gaze. "... Everything O-K, guys...?" Knuckles asked, confusedly.

Tails awkwardly made his way to the two, not making eye-contact with the blue brunch guest he and Knuckles were having, and said, "It's fine – I mean, we're just here to get a bite to eat, right?" When he dared to look back to where he'd seen Sonic in his peripheral-vision, he was gone, having sat at the very corner of a window seat on one of two couches smaller than the one they had initially chosen.

Knuckles looked over at Sonic, "Sonic! I thought we wer—" he began, before realizing he had been holding up the line for minutes now and stepping out of the way, apologizing before continuing, "I thought we agre—" he was tapped on the shoulder by the cashier, who'd gotten his order ready for him in the time they'd stood there. "Ugh, thanks," he said, picking up the tray and beginning to walk along with Tails over to the seats Sonic had abruptly decided they should go for instead, "I thought what we were gonna do was go over to those se—" The echidna started one last time, pointing at the seats before realizing they had been taken. The people sitting at the seats they had planned to sit at seemed puzzled by Knuckles seemingly randomly pointing towards them, which elicited Knuckles to awkwardly wave at them before groaning and sitting on the opposite couch to Sonic, centering himself and immediately getting into eating his food, leaving Tails to sit by the hedgehog.

The fox sighed and sat next to his... friend – who himself was surprised to feel a tail brush up against his shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts and taking him back to the situation at hand. Sonic cleared his throat and offered, "Hey, uh... Knuckles? You think you could scoot over for, ah, Tails?" He then felt what was probably meant to be little more than a gentle nudge from the fox sitting beside him but ended up being more of a light _shove._ He wasn't about to lose his rings over it, but it was cause for him to look over at the fox, who had a calmer look than he had when he first came through the door and saw him.

"It's okay, Knuckles," Tails said, "I'm fine here." Whether Knuckles realized it or either Sonic or Tails were willing to admit out loud, things were tense and they needed something to cool the situation down, and, Tails hoped, his gesture was enough to do so. Without further incident, aside from a confused look from their emerald-guarding friend, they dug into their food.

The effort made by Tails was, unfortunately, too little, as the meal went on awkwardly. Sonic couldn't take his mind off of his—'spat' or no 'spat'—best friend; that idea that came to his mind at that moment in time that felt so recent to the high-speed hedgehog had only felt more and more real, tangible. His heart rate had only gotten faster when he first felt the soft fur of his tail against his skin and he was feeling that curious warmth he felt back in the hallway after the race again, and then he realized Knuckles was staring at him and Tails. "Wh-what? I got something in my _t_ -teeth?" He asked, stuttering once again.

Knuckles spoke up, "Are you sure everything's O-K? You're both blushing and acting weird... do both of you have a crush on me?"

" _Both?_ " The two both seemed to think at the same time, as they looked at one another and realized it was so – looking away shortly thereafter and awkwardly trying to move on from the moment to explain, "No, it's—" before realizing they had both spoken up at the same time and quieting down. "He—" they attempted again, to no avail, leading to Sonic looking outside the window once again in mild frustration and Tails looking to the other side of the restaurant.

Finally, after a moment of uneasy silence from the two and utter bewilderment from Knuckles, Tails simply answered, "Sonic's, um... still upset about the race." Leading to Knuckles raising his eye ridge, his confusion not exactly eased with the answer that the two-tailed fox had supplied. They tried to get back to their food—said food may have been called _fast_ food, but, no-thanks to the drama going on between the fox and the hedgehog, it was taking more than the regular time it would otherwise take, for other customers had come and gone in the time they were taking eating their food.

"... Seriously, Sonic?" Knuckles began, "Just over that silly race? I mean, I didn't get second-to- _dead-last,_ but I was pretty low compared to number _one-_ derboy over here, and you don't see _me_ getting all mopey about it! Get over it, sheesh," he spoke as he ate, that along with his words making both Sonic and Tails uncomfortable, but he seemed content with saying his piece and they didn't want to prolong the tension any further than they had to so they left it at that.

Before long, Knuckles was done, and he got up and threw away his trash. "I'm gonna head out now – remember Sonic, it's _not a big deal,_ okay?" He told Sonic, who merely nodded without making eye-contact, merely eyeing his half-eaten MickBurger. The echidna shrugged, before leaving the restaurant and the two alone together.

One benefit to the awkward silence was they both finally were able to finish their brunch, but they both felt a compulsion to speak up, to just _start_ to do something about the situation they had found themselves in, yet neither of them could come up with anything. They used to be so natural, and, perhaps they still were, but there was now a fear keeping the two from expressing their feelings fully – a fear of losing what had kept them going through thick and thin for all these years.

But it was too much for Sonic, he needed something to be said—it was in his very nature. After a tense moment where both were finished with their meals but neither were moving, Tails began to get up, which finally pushed Sonic to say, "T-Tails." Tails was now listening, and the hedgehog knew it was now or never, "I..." he began, "... I guess... So much for clearing my head, being away from you was killing me and... and... so is being with you..." he admitted, though it pained him—and Tails—to do so, continuing, "I guess I should've known I'd be out of luck in trying to get some space when we're either doing everything together or doing everything together with Knuckles..."

Tails sat back down and shifted his gaze back at the hedgehog, inquiring, "Do you think we can we take this outside? I could use some privacy from all these people." Sonic nodded and they both scooted out of their seats, threw away their trash, and stepped outside. The breeze hit Sonic's quills and made them flow in the wind slightly, looking utterly breathtaking to a certain two-tailed fox in the vicinity—who then had to get a grip as he started, "... I'm sorry I got so upset at you earlier, Sonic, I was feeling anxious about... um... what was going on... if I'm completely honest, you're not the only one who's been getting those feelings lately..." a moment went by as what the fox said began to sink in, before Tails cleared his throat awkwardly and continued, "s-so it's not very fair of me to get angry at you over being honest about it..." The fox was blushing again by the time he finished speaking, having trouble maintaining eye-contact with the handsome hedgehog.

"So... this _isn't_ just me, then," Sonic said as he felt butterflies enter into his chest, but, not wanting to compromise his 'coolness,' he did his best not to let it show as he rested his arm on the wall of the building and asked, "What now?" Dead-silence followed, for neither one had any idea where they were heading.

The fox sighed and shook his head, "I think we just need some distance from each other, at least until these feelings blow over," when his eyes met Sonic's, his heart broke a little, seeing his best friend's disheartened reaction. He put his hand on the hedgehog's shoulder, smiling and reasoning, "Just... We're friends, aren't we? Good friends."

Sonic put his hand on the hand his fox friend put on his shoulder, maintaining eye-contact as he replied, "This doesn't have to change anything, Tails, I don't wanna stop being friends, none of this is about having to give up our friendship," his mouth twisted into a frown that affected his two-tailed friend, and it didn't show any signs of going away with just a small gesture of kindness. His eyes then shifted down to the floor again and he let his hand fall to his side as he turned his back to the fox, resigning himself to the boundaries that were being set up out of respect for Tails—even if he didn't like them. "... I'm... in... Tails I-I'm in... I..." His fists were clenching and his whole body was tensing up, and, to his surprise, his eyes were welling-up; unbeknownst to the fox who only saw the back of his head... until a tear fell down and exploded into thousands of unseeable, smaller tears, bouncing off of his right shoe buckle – making a small little 'ding' sound on the metal.

"... Sonic...?" Tails said, concernedly.

The hedgehog finally turned around and faced the fox – his frown tensed and his eyes filled with tears. He took a deep breath before spitting, "I'm fine! Nothing... is... wrong! I'm fine!" He was gritting his teeth and shaking, like something had come over him and he was no longer in control of himself. Tails's eyes were welling-up as well, not uttering a single word in reply before Sonic yelled, " _ **I'm fine!**_ " He then bolted away from Tails and away from the restaurant, not thinking to look back. Not thinking at all.

He was running away again. From his feelings, from his best friend, all over again. What had become of the hedgehog he once was, he wondered - what had become of that dashing, effortless, humorous, beloved-by-all-blue hedgehog he himself thought he'd known for years? As all the thoughts danced about in his psyche, an unknown feral side of him led him straight to an alleyway, where he found a dumpster; stacks of cardboard boxes; old newspapers; and two solid brick walls. Sonic was gnashing his teeth together and clenching his fists as he felt all the bottled-up emotions come out in a frightening fit of anger, merely saying, _"Looks like things have gotten pretty ugly...!"_ before proceeding to trash everything in sight.

Cardboard was torn, newspapers were ripped apart, and knuckles were bruised as Sonic ripped, tore and punched everything he could in that alleyway. Yelling, "Rrrrrrrrraaaaaa _aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa_ _ **aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!**_ " the hedgehog was frenzied and he couldn't stop even if he had the sense to want to – this was the culmination of years of repressed emotions, sucked-in tears, unspoken pain overflowing his very being and spilling outward despite his greatest efforts to prevent from erupting. "It's all falling apart!" He lamented, with seething fury, "All of it! It was all for nothing! I can't do _**anything!**_ " Either he was going to bust his hand, or the walls of the alley would come down that very moment, whichever came first—for the hedgehog was not about to stop before either one had transpired – his pain, his shame, his anguish, his inadequacy would not allow him to let up before then.

"I lost! Everyone saw me lose! And right when I thought it couldn't get worse, now I've lost Tails! It's all _**over!**_ " Sonic cried out. It was as if every fiber of his being was shaming him and punishing for making his feelings known to the fox, for 'breaking character' even one moment, disrupting the Sonic illlusion he had constructed to fool others and himself for so long. It was _weakness,_ to him, to show anything that could otherwise lead one to believe he wasn't the coolest, baddest, raddest dude anyone had ever known.

The rest of the breakdown went like a blur to the hedgehog, time was speeding up once again as he continued to destroy his hands on the bricks, until, right as he could _feel_ himself about to land the last hit he could possibly make, he awoke from the frenzy. He looked up at the now-darkened sky. The day was slipping away from him, just as all he held dear had.

It was finally all out.

He looked at his hands, feeling the knuckles and fingers, they were within a mere inch of permanent damage – _luckily enough_ _for him_ he was able to stop himself before that happened. What had happened in him was entirely foreign to him, foreign from even the emotions he had been keeping pent-up inside of him until then. Perhaps what he just went through was what other people had gone through, he wondered, perhaps he let it all get out of hand. Maybe what he needed was to let it all out.

"... So what's left?" He asked himself, as he brushed the dirt and debris off of his gloves and self, having lost himself. There was nowhere to _look,_ he had merely disappeared... "... I don't give up." Sonic said to himself, countering his feeling of hopelessness with determination. "I don't give up, I don't let a low moment keep me down and I always come through in the end for my friends... my friends..." he repeated, thinking back to Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, Cream, and, finally, Tails – his thoughts lingering on the fox.

But, before he could spend another moment wondering, it dawned on him that the next race would start in half an hour—and _then_ it dawned on him he'd forgotten his board in that hallway. Without wasting another moment, the fastest thing alive sped off to that very hallway, with newfound purpose. To _be,_ truly _**be**_ the great hedgehog Tails saw... at one point or another... in him, instead of the facade he'd put on for everyone, and himself. To prove not that he could merely _tell a good lie,_ but that he _could_ become the hedgehog he was always meant to be, not just on the outside, but on the inside as well.

… By winning a race. He _was_ still Sonic, after all.

Racing to the board was the easy part, as he made sure not to hit any buildings on the way this time and soon made it to where he was in that same Metal City hallway he'd nearly confessed to Tails in, found the board and picked it up – the hard part was carrying it over to the nearest Air Pit, the difficulty of which he soon found out firsthand as he proceeded to lug it over to the relatively-close pit.

Before _too_ long—as he was trying with all his might to get this done quick—he plugged the gear in and it refueled quickly. "... Huh. It, uh... it always seems much slower to do during a race?" He said to himself, curiously, before shrugging it off, unplugging the board that was now full of air and was about as light as a feather, hopping onto it and proceeding to attempt to ride through the corridors to the Night Chase track. It was a ludicrous idea that had no right to work as well as it did.

He finally rode his way into the room the race would begin at, smoothly braking impressively in front of everyone, drawing attention from all the racers, including Tails—"Gosh, right, boundaries." Sonic thought to himself as he then proceeded to quietly head over to the opposite side of the room from where Tails was. There was no hint of another outburst in him, for a sense of melancholy had taken its place. "What's going on with me? I thought this was my big triumphant moment where I prove myself, but now I feel like crap..." he thought to himself, for while he had certainly gotten on the _path_ to bettering himself, he still didn't feel right as long as there was conflict going on between him and Tails. And, for as long as 'until these feelings blow over' would last, there was nothing he could do about the situation.

It was then that he heard the countdown to the start of the race begin, and he backed up with the rest of the racers, accidentally glancing at Tails right as he glanced at him as well, which prompted him to quickly take his eyes off of him and running ahead without looking and hitting the electrocuting bar that the robot and Knuckles had hit in the race before. "Yyyyyyyowch!" He yelped as he got shocked really badly, getting left behind by the other racers who hadn't made the same mistake—even one of Eggman's robots had managed to get it together better than he had.

Sonic was dazed, but he shook his head and got on his board, proceeding to join the race while he declared, "This isn't over yet!" This time he had to work his way up from the bottom. A fitting way for him to prove himself, he thought, before nearly hitting a car. "Yikes!" He let out, "why do we even race in an active city with cars, someone could get hurt here!" Not wanting to waste anymore time he could be using to catch up with the others, he boosted and picked up his pace.

Everyone was surprised to see him, every time he passed someone he was met with a wide-eyed look and an agape mouth – evidently none of them had taken him bringing his A-game into account, which worked out well for him; getting to prove himself to everyone was what he came for.

He cleared lap one in fifth-place and the four racers ahead of him were almost all in sight. "I'm almost there, I've got this, I can do this!" He said to himself with a smirk and a boost. He reached Jet the Hawk and passed him with little struggle, shoving him off-balance and obtaining fourth-place. "Catch up with you _again_ , soon, Jet!" He hollered back at him before speeding ahead to Shadow and swiping at his foot at just the right time in order to trip him off of his douchey 'The Darkness' skates, laughing heartily for a moment as he got third-place before hurrying ahead for fear of facing the wrath of the _ultimate life-form_.

Lap two was finished soon enough and he was beginning to see some of the farther-back racers. He chuckled before proceeding to do just that, once again letting them all feel the wind hit them as he sped by them as a blue lightning-fast streak. The two leading-racers had attained an astonishing lead ahead of all others, so Sonic couldn't let up one moment, exerting maximum effort and racing faster than he ever had in recent memory, and it paid off as he saw the two-tailed fox off in the distance.

"Don't mess this up, don't mess this up, don't mess this up...!" Sonic said to himself as he carefully approached Tails, before, by chance, noticing from the corner of his eye a rapidly-approaching car heading straight for his best friend and, in a panic, fearing the worst, boosted right to the fox and shoved him out of the way, getting hit in the process and being launched into the air, losing a great many rings, and falling right on his quills, off to the side of the track where no one went. "... Aaaaaaagh!..." He groaned in pain, hurting all over, unable to move.

Before he knew it, Tails was off his board and at his side. "Tails?... Tails, what are you doing? I'm fine..." He assured the fox, though he knew it wasn't true, as he was seeing about four Tails's at that point.

Then came something that truly shocked Sonic: Tails slapped him. "Hey, whoa, Tails, what was that for?! I just got hit by a car!" Sonic reacted in bewilderment.

"You're _**not**_ fine! You're not you're not you're not!" The fox cried, frustratedly, eyes welling and tails spinning furiously, before he leaned down to give the hedgehog a big, tight hug. "You're not fine, and _that's_ fine, just tell me the truth already, for crying... out... loud..." he frowned, his frustration giving way to deep concern for his friend. "I worry about you and you... you...! You keep doing this to yourself! What do I have to do to get you to actually take care of yourself you big," he sobbed, weakly hitting the hedgehog on the chest, "fool..." he uttered, defeatedly.

Sonic got the feeling that what little he showed of his outburst had gotten to his friend and he felt guilt come over him. He wrapped his arms around the fox and hugged him tight as well, replying, "I don't know what to say, Tails... I'm..." he would've continued, were it not for the sound of Jet's board whizzing past them catching his attention, "... don't lose for me, Tails, you can win this," he told the fox.

Tails sighed, wiping his nose and the tears out of his eyes before picking the hedgehog up off the ground, "I don't care about winning some meaningless race, Sonic, I care about _you,_ " he told him, before proceeding to help him onto his board.

The hedgehog may have only just gotten his bearings, but even he could see the ridiculousness of what Tails was doing. "Hey, you didn't design these for two people, Tails, we shouldn't be doi—whooooooooooaaaaa!" Sonic began before Tails accelerated the board and he was forced to hold desperately on to the fox. "What the heck's gotten into you?!" He asked, exasperatedly. He peaked his head from behind the two tails and realized what was about to happen: Tails was going to have them both fly. His eyes widened.

Once again, time was speeding up for Sonic, but this time, however, was different – Tails was with him, he was holding on tight to him, and, even though they were about to fly together on the same board—which he knew, and Tails _had_ to know, could potentially be dangerous—he wasn't scared. Not even _close._ He was _excited_ for the flight.

"Hold on tight!" Tails exclaimed, before they soared into the night sky, the busy noises of the night fading so there was only Sonic, Tails, and the air. Time went back to normal and Sonic let out a sigh of relief and eased up to a confidently-gentler hold on his fox friend. Tails turned his head over and questioned, "Sonic?"

The sapphire 'hitchhiker,' after almost a whole day of stress and frustration, simply gave the fox a contented smile and answered, "I feel safe enough, and I trust you've got this covered, _genius._ " Sonic knew right then that this was exactly what he needed, what he'd been missing until now, the final piece to the puzzle of solving the situation they'd been in, and it was so simple all along. Running away from it did him no good the both times he did it, but now that they were together again and letting go of their prior inhibitions, they were not only back to normal, it was _better_ than normal. Better than they'd ever been before, together, and it was _fantastic._

When they landed, they proceeded to ride through the rest of the course at a steady pace, finishing, without further incident, at sixth-place. It wasn't what Sonic had initially hoped for, but he didn't need to win – he knew that now. They went over and congratulated the first-place winner, Cream the Rabbit, and left the area after a short while, hand in hand.

Sonic weakly—still recovering from his outburst—squeezed the fox's hand, asking, "Any place in particular you wanna go?" They had reached the exit and were now outside the main part of the building, in a little area with a fountain and a bench that would fit the two of them just perfectly and make for a lovely, peaceful time for relaxation and rest, which the hedgehog noticed, as he then suggested, "Hey, maybe we can sit right here! Just you, me... w-water..." He jokingly acted squeamish when he mentioned the water, hoping that his playful tone would suggest it was not an issue—since he had no real issue with it as long as it was either lower than his torso or he wasn't in it to begin with.

Tails smiled, "Here seems good," and they proceeded to sit down on the bench and enjoyed the memorable view of the beautiful fountain. The fox looked over and noticed Sonic attempting but shying away from putting his arm around his shoulder, leading Tails to roll his eyes and remark, "Gosh, just do it already, you clown," which seemed to get him to go through with it as he then sucked up his insecurities and did so.

The hedgehog chuckled, "Sorry, force of habit." It felt good to finally be natural with his best friend again, but he still had one lingering question on his mind, one he just had to ask. "Hey, so what does this mean for us? I mean, this is my first time doing anything like this, so I'm not sure if... Does this mean we're gonna be boyfriends or...?" He trailed off as he—despite what he meant to show—was quite noticeably unsure of what to make of the situation other than something of a 'step-up' from being friends and nothing else.

Giving in to the peaceful vibe of the night, Tails leaned his head on Sonic's shoulder and said, "I don't know. To be honest, I haven't really thought any of this through, it just... happened. Is this what being you is like, all the time?" He elicited laughter from his wisecracking friend, whose laughter was infectious enough to get him doing it as well. When it died down, the fox went ahead and asked a question of his own, "What were you gonna say, this afternoon?"

"Ah, well..." Sonic started, awkwardly, "it involves a certain L-word, I'll tell you that much, haha," he chuckled, but, when he saw the pleading eyes of the fox, he grew amused, questioning, "Well geesh, I would think you of all people would be able to put it together from what I've said already, wouldn't you?"

Tails shook his head and found himself amused too, chuckling, "Never thought I'd see the day _Sonic the Hedgehog_ would be too scared to say one little word, I'm _shocked._ "

Sonic chuckled along, in spite of himself, before replying, "Hey, I happen to think it's a little more than just _little_ , buddy, it's just... ah, what the heck – Tails, I'm... in love with you," he couldn't help but not really commit to the latter half of his statement, which elicited an unconvinced look from the fox, which, in turn, led to Sonic growing defensive, saying, "Okay, so I'm not good at it; that was my first time, okay?" When Tails didn't budge, he sighed, before bracing himself and attempting to say it again, "I'm in l-l... I'm... gosh, this is so hard!" He huffed in lighthearted 'frustration.'

The fox couldn't help but giggle at his usually-cocky friend's struggle to say one simple sentence. "This is getting hard to watch, I'm sorry," he told the hedgehog, who had a laugh at the fox's good-natured teasing, "You're making this into a bigger deal than it has to be. Here," he began – he then put his hand on the side of his head and made the speedster face him, "just relax. Watch me," he instructed, before clearing his throat and stating, "Sonic, I'm in love with you."

It felt like his heart was about to burst right out of his chest, Sonic was so excited. Then, as if the moment couldn't get any more astronomically-unforgettable, their heads got closer and closer, until their foreheads were touching. He could feel the greatest sense of belonging he'd ever felt in his life, and the last of his walls seemed to finally be coming down. It was like something was compelling the both of them to close the last bit of distance, and the two were not inclined to reject its influence. His eyes were slowly closing and both their lips were getting closer and closer as he calmly uttered, "Tails, I'm... in love... with..."

" _... You..."_

 **The End**


End file.
